Bering Glacier is a glacier in Alaska. It currently terminates in Vitus Lake south of Alaska’s Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, about 10 km from the Gulf of Alaska. Combined with the Bagley Icefield, where the snow that feeds the glacier accumulates, the Bering is the largest glacier in North America. Warmer temperatures and changes in precipitation over the past century have thinned the Bering Glacier by several hundred meters. Since 1900 the terminus has retreated as much as 12 km. (The Bering Glacier ‘surges,’ an acceleration of the flow rate of the glacier, every 20 years or so. During these periods the glacier terminus advances. The surges are generally followed by periods of retreat, so despite the periodic advances the glacier has been shrinking overall.) Most of the glaciers along the Alaskan coast are retreating along with the Bering Glacier. Aletsch glacier, Switzerland A glacier is a large, long-lasting river of ice that is formed on land and moves in response to gravity. ... Official language(s) English Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Area Ranked 1st - Total 663,267 sq. ... The Gulf of Alaska is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, where Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage are to be found. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ...
The glacial retreat has an interesting side effect—an increase in the frequency of earthquakes in the region. The Wrangell and St. Elias mountain ranges that spawn the Bering Glacier were created by the collision of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates [the Pacific Plate is sliding underneath (being subducted by) the North American Plate]. The weight of the vast amount of ice in the Bering Glacier is enough to depress the Earth’s crust, stabilizing the boundary between the two plates. As the glaciers lose mass, the pressure of the ice is diminished. This reduced compression allows the rocks along faults to move more freely, resulting in more earthquakes. Wrangell Mountains The Wrangell Mountains are a high mountain range in southeast Alaska in the United States and the southwest Yukon Territory in Canada. ... The Saint Elias Mountains is a mountain range located in southeastern Alaska (United States) and southwestern Yukon (Canada). ... The Pacific plate is shown in pale yellow on this map The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean. ... The North American plate is shown in brown on this map The North American Plate is a continental tectonic plate covering most of North America, extending eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Cherskiy Range in East Siberia. ...
Glaciers lost more ice in 1990 than in any other year in the 1961-90 period, and their meltwater contribution reached 50 percent of the estimated long term annual rate of sea level rise in that year.
The BeringGlacier, North America's largest glacier, is an example of a major glacier in retreat, and an illustration of the complexity of glacier behavior.
Glacial surging is defined as short and periodic rapid displacements and movements of large quantities of ice within the glacier.
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